The deadly shooting at this year’s San Francisco Pride wasn’t the only bad news for the event’s organizers: Accusations surfaced after this year’s parade that SF Pride had stiffed some twenty other non-profits. And now it’s reached a tipping point: executive director Amy Andre is stepping down. The SF Chronicle reports:
This week, Amy Andre announced she will step down amid accusations that her organization shortchanged at least 20 smaller nonprofits hired to work beverage booths at the annual summer celebration. The aggrieved nonprofits are owed a total of $46,000 – money Andre said will be paid back, even as the organization attempts to dig out of a $99,000 operating debt. “We basically said, ‘Good catch,’ to those groups,” Andre said. “And we apologized wholeheartedly and will pay all of them the money we owe.” Yet the lapse, coupled with what critics say was the Pride board’s failure to respond quickly and openly to the complaints, has managed to upend the leadership of the nonprofit, which has an annual budget of almost $2 million.
When previously questioned about the non-payment, SF Pride characterized it as a “miscommunication” between Andre and her bookkeeper.
After just a year on the job it was to be Andre’s first, and last, pride parade. And after earlier predicting a budget surplus of some $40k, SF Pride is now expected to be in the hole $150k. Which is I guess what happens when you actually pay your overextended bills. [photo via]
erkki
She can go work with the crooks at Equality California.
Ellen Amos
To infer that Amy Andre is a crook shows absolute ignorance of the situation. I’m confused. How do you pay out charity partners when the event has run a deficit? Everyone should take the hit together. Having planned large events with multiple partners, I can tell you there was likely a systems and process failure here. The organization should be able to divide a percentage of the profits accordingly, possibly guaranteeing a nominal sum.